Scripts

JL = Joanna Lumley; T = Tura; KS = Kjetil Skoglie

JL: The far north. Fairytale mountains. It’s just fabulously beautiful. The land of the magical Northern Lights is somewhere I’ve longed for all my life. As a little girl I lived in the steamy heat of tropical Malaysia. I used to yearn to be cold. I’d never even seen snow. But my storybooks were full of snow queens, and now I’m entering that world. This is the journey I’ve always dreamt of making. I feel I’ve come into another world now. No people except you and us. And if we’re very lucky we might see the elusive Northern Lights. I pack up things that are going to be essential on every trip. So in here I’ve got, for instance, oil-based pastels; and I’ve got a lovely little drawing book, but I’ve got that colored pages so that you can draw in different colors; a lovely old guidebook – it’s called The Land of the Vikings. It’s got beautiful old maps. Look at that. But if it wasn’t for one item in my case, I wouldn’t be on this journey at all. This is the book: Ponny the Penguin. This is when I first heard of the Northern Lights. And there was this picture which haunted me of a sort of rippling curtain and a little tiny penguin. This is not your average taxi rank at the station. I’m in the hands of Tura Christiansen and his team of 11 sled dogs. Good morning. I’m Joanna.

T: Tura.

JL: Tura. How nice to see you, Tura.

T: Yes.

JL: These are wonderful dogs.

T: They like to … to, er …

JL: They like to run?

T: Yes.

JL: The weather near Troms? is uncertain. But local guide, Kjetil Skoglie, promises me we’ll track down the lights even if it takes till morning. I can’t see anything, Kjetil.

KS: No, it’s … it’s nothing yet. You just have to be patient.

JL: OK, so I just wait here.

KS: Yeah, you just wait here.

JL: Yeah.

KS: Good luck.

JL: Thanks, Kjetil. I stand in the pitch-black by the side of the fjord, and wait. Look, much brighter there. Oh, something’s happening there. Oh … Look up here! Look what’s happening here! Look at that! Oh … Oh! Look at this! And it just keeps changing and changing. I can’t believe I’m seeing this. It’s fantastic and it’s coming back again. I have been waiting all my life to see the Northern Lights. I’m as happy as can be. This is the most astonishing thing I have ever, ever seen.